Hostetler, Rachel Y. (1922-1965)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Sep 2 p. 3

Birth date: 1922

text of obituary:

Widow and Mother Of Five Killed by Lightning Bolt

Belleville, Pa. — Tragedy struck a second time in an Amish family of rural Reedsville, claiming the life of the widowed mother and leaving five children orphans.

Mrs. Rachel Y. Hostetler, about 43, was instantly killed the evening of Aug. 17 when a bolt of lightning struck the Hostetler home.

Thirteen years ago the husband and father, Emanuel A. Hostetler, was fatally injured when a team of horses ran off with the hay wagon he was driving.

Mrs. Hostetler and her daughter Linda, 17,were drying apples on an oil stove in the washhouse when the bolt hit the house. Linda was knocked unconscious, but recovered without any apparent ill effects. The lightning damaged the house siding, but there was no fire.

Mrs. Hostetler leaves her five children ranging in age from 13 to 21; her parents, Samuel Y. and Elizabeth Hostetler; six brothers and three sisters. She was a member of the Nebraska Amish Church.